Monday, 25 November 2013

Granada – Teterias (Tea rooms)

Apart from
the Alhambra and the Moorish architecture Granada inherited other noteworthy
things as well such as the tradition of drinking tea in a teteria, or tea room. There are many teterias in Granada and in the Albayzín there’s a whole road
dedicated to them, the Calle Calderería Nueva. As with everything else,
however, if you don’t know where to go you might end up somewhere that doesn’t
provide the experience you’re looking for. After looking for the suitable place
on the internet we found one that was suggested by the Guardian: the charming
As-Sirat (Teteria Andalusi).

Having our
friends, Juan Carlos and Meritxell with us provided an excellent time to try a
tea in one of the famous tea rooms therefore under the pretence of showing them
a Granadian tradition we ourselves got to try the experience, too. After a
morning of walking around in the neighbourhood we finally ventured into the
As-Sirat and sat down around one of the tables.

The teteria is not only a tea house where
you go to drink your afternoon tea, the experience is more exotic than that.
The place itself is decorated in oriental and Arabic style, it feels like being
in a tiny Alhambra. You are seated next to a low table on tiny chairs and you
spend the first few minutes admiring your surroundings.

Even though
the menu here was very extensive our group choose a traditional Moroccan mint
tea that does not only quench the thirst but also refreshes tired tourists. The
tea has already been sweetened and the leaves come in a gorgeous pot. You have
to pour it from high up so the drink cools down on the way to the small
decorated glasses. Apparently the ritual has to be repeated six times but we
only did it twice.

I chose a
different tea called ‘the Dream of the Alhambra’. This consisted not only of
tea leaves but also some fruit bits and flower petals. This is how it looked.

The As-Sirat
teteria is a bit further away from
the street of tea rooms on Placeta de la Charca, off Panderos del Albayzín. I
can recommend it to everybody.